Ronda Rousey stops Sara McMann in round one

Here's the match video of Ronda Rousey defending her UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship against Sara McMann in Las Vegas last night at UFC 170. Ronda never publicly predicts her fights. But she said afterwards that after watching Sara's fight posture, Ronda and coach Edmond Tarverdyan decided to attack Sara's body. I guess she thought she might have trouble taking her down. So no armbar, folks. Sara's big mistake was allowing Ronda to control the clinch. I think trying to keep Ronda at a distance is a good theory. But she's too quick for that. So once Ronda gets the clinch, she usually gets the takedown leading to the armbar. Instead, Ronda threw elbows and knees. And one of those knees dropped Sara and ref Herb Dean stopped the fight. It was all over in 66 seconds. There was an immediate outcry that it was a quick stoppage and that Sara had recovered and was getting up. The problem is that for a brief moment, Sara was on her knees clutching her stomach and Ronda was ready to launch a barrage of blows. Even if she is unable to protect herself for that brief moment, Dean must stop the fight to protect her. He has no choice. Dean explained afterwards that for all he knew, Sara broke a rib. He can't see into the future. She wasn't defending herself. We've seen this kind of stoppage before and the ref can't win. It will upset fans but if he lets it go, it could get worse and he'll get blamed. So I'm OK with the stoppage. Fighter safety comes first. Afterwards, Sara was obviously unhappy but she blamed herself for reacting badly to the knee. I gotta admit Ronda's strategy was perfect. My guess is Ronda's next fight will be this summer against Cat Zingano if Cat is ready. Alexis Davis is another possibility but I will address that when I post the video of her match later. For the immediate future, Ronda's opponent won't be Cris Cyborg or Holly Holm. UFC president Dana White said Cyborg needs to prove herself at 135lb first and then they'll talk. And he said Holly needs to win in the UFC to be on the radar. Her manager is a moron. What he is doing won't get her Ronda. Enjoy the video!